Anderson, the great-great-grandson of Swedish immigrants who started farming this land in the 1880s, relies on more than 50 of these center pivot irrigators — each one pumping up to 800 gallons of groundwater per minute — to produce the kind of harvests his ancestors could have only dreamed of.

Modern irrigation technology has transformed this region in Stearns, Pope, Douglas and Kandiyohi counties in west central Minnesota, known as the Bonanza Valley. A former glacial river bed north of Willmar, it’s largely covered with thin, sandy soils that don’t retain moisture as well as more fertile farmland elsewhere in the state.

“Without the water, none of this would be possible,” said Anderson, 61, paging through a book of yield maps in a newly built conference room in one of the farm’s red outbuildings. Where his parents struggled in some years to raise a single cob of corn, 200 bushels per acre is now common.

But as groundwater use in the area surges to record levels, questions are resurfacing about whether there will be enough water for future generations of farmers without having an adverse effect on the area’s lakes, streams, wetlands and drinking water supplies. (Continue reading…)

(Midwest Energy News, December 3, 2013)—Norway has been called the “battery” of northern Europe because of its huge potential to store energy in its hydro power facilities, which produce virtually all of the country’s electricity.

When generation ramps up at Danish wind farms, Norway can slow production at its hydro facilities, storing water in reservoirs to be released later when electricity is in shorter supply.

As much as 40 percent of Danish wind power is “stored” like this behind Norwegian hydro dams, according to a 2012 paper by Norwegian energy economist Johannes Mauritzen.

In northern Minnesota, an electric utility is proposing a 500 kV, cross-border transmission line that would let it tap Canadian hydropower under a similar arrangement.

Minnesota Power says the Great Northern Transmission Line would allow it to balance intermittent power from its North Dakota wind farms with dispatchable power from Manitoba hydro facilities.

(Midwest Energy News, November 22, 2013 )—Brian Gramm’s goal was to build a portable solar generator so rugged that it could survive in one of America’s harshest environments: a stadium parking lot.

The sports fan and serial entrepreneur came up with a product he says can withstand spilled beer, flying footballs, even a fall from your SUV roof should your inebriated buddies accidentally knock it over.

Gramm co-founded Peppermint Energy, a Sioux Falls startup company that originally planned to market solar power to sports tailgaters who wanted to watch TV or blare stereos without risking a dead car battery.

As he shared the designs with friends and mentors, though, others pointed out that a device as simple and durable as theirs might have another purpose: helping in disaster recovery and other humanitarian missions.

(Midwest Energy News, November 20, 2013)—Offshore wind energy development in the Great Lakes could create thousands of manufacturing and construction jobs in the region — if lawmakers get the policy right.

A new report by an Illinois economist concludes that the economic impact of offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes greatly depends on whether the industry can grow at a steady pace.

Offshore wind developers are more likely to open regional offices and manufacturing facilities if they view the Great Lakes as an opportunity for sustained, long-term growth, it says.

But if incentives and permitting turn out to be as choppy as Lake Superior during a wind storm, those companies would probably import parts and expertise from elsewhere instead.

(Midwest Energy News, November 13, 2013)—Wisconsin legislators are scheduled to take up a bill next week that would make it easier for people to sue for perceived health symptoms and property value impacts they attribute to wind turbines.

Under the proposal, anyone living within 1.5 miles of a wind turbine could sue for damages related to physical or emotional suffering, loss of property value, moving expenses, or lost profits, and the wind farm owner or operator would be forced to pick up the tab for the plaintiffs’ attorney fees.

It would also prohibit as a defense the fact that a project has already been legally permitted to operate by the state or a local government.

Opponents say the bill (SB167), if passed, would effectively put an end to wind development in Wisconsin and potentially drive up electricity rates in the state.

(Midwest Energy News, November 11, 2013)—As customers begin putting money down to join one of Minnesota’s first community solar gardens, new comments to state regulators reveal significant disagreements about how the program should work.

A new state law requires Xcel Energy to develop a program that will allow customers to buy shares of power produced at nearby solar installations, known as community solar gardens.

The idea is to make solar power accessible to the majority of Minnesotans who either don’t own their home or have a rooftop that isn’t sunny enough, strong enough, or angled correctly for installing solar panels.

Xcel unveiled its plan for the program on Sept. 30, and last week solar developers responded with several objections over proposed fees, rates and restrictions the utility would place on the projects.

MN Community Solar started accepting deposits a few weeks ago for a 40-kilowatt solar garden to be built on the roof of a south Minneapolis warehouse. But it expects it will have to refund that money if major changes aren’t made to Xcel’s proposal.

(Midwest Energy News, November 7, 2013)—Minnesota’s largest electric utility is asking state regulators to change the way it sets electricity rates so that it isn’t penalized when customers conserve energy.

As part of a rate increase request filed Monday, Xcel Energy is proposing to partially separate its revenue from electricity sales starting in 2015, a policy known as “decoupling.”

If electricity sales were lower than forecasted for a given year, the utility would be allowed to make up the difference by charging a higher rate the following year.

The reverse would also be true: if electricity sales exceeded forecasts, the utility would have to refund the surplus to customers through a lower rate the next year.

(Midwest Energy News, November 5, 2013)—Utilities face a flurry of threats to their business model, from rising expectations and falling sales to new competition and aging infrastructure.

Bill Grant, Minnesota’s Deputy Commissioner for Energy, summarized the pressures in his opening remarks Friday at a policy forum in St. Paul called “The Future of Minnesota’s Electric Utilities,” organized by the Environmental Initiative, a Twin Cities nonprofit organization.

For decades, utilities have operated by borrowing money to built new power plants, transmission lines and other infrastructure to meet society’s constantly growing demand for electricity, the sales of which paid down the debt and eventually turned to profit.

A wrench has been thrown in that once reliable pattern, though.

Ever since the start of the Great Recession, utilities have been selling less electricity. Even as the economy recovers, electricity demand isn’t rebounding, a sign that utilities’ and customers’ energy efficiency investments could be paying off.

Meanwhile, utilities’ costs aren’t going down. They still have debt to pay, repairs to make, and things to build. In fact, costs are often going up due to a combination of aging infrastructure, new environmental regulations and changing expectations.

Under the current model, utilities have few options besides increasing rates. Those higher rates then give customers greater incentive to lower their use through efficiency projects or solar panels, which further cuts into utilities’ sales.

(Midwest Energy News, October 28, 2013)—Karl Rábago could be called the grandfather of the value-of-solar tariff, but the concept is so new that “young parent” might be a more apt moniker.

The basic idea is that instead of paying customers with solar panels the retail electricity rate for their surplus power, utilities should pay a price that reflects the true value of solar to the grid. That could include added value for reducing congestion or generating during peak hours when power is most expensive.

Rábago helped develop the first value-of-solar tariff during his tenure as a municipal utility executive in Austin, Texas, which implemented the scheme just last year. Today, as an independent consultant, he travels around the country promoting and explaining the concept to others considering it.

Minnesota is the first state attempting to establish a value-of-solar tariff, and Rábago believes his baby is in good hands.

(Midwest Energy News, October 28, 2013)—As a municipal utility executive in Austin, Texas, Karl Rábago led a team that came up with the very first value-of-solar tariff, an alternative to net-metering that aims to pay utility customers a rate for solar power that reflects its actual value to the grid and society.

Today, as an independent consultant, Rábago is the concept’s chief evangelist. He’s been hired by the Minnesota Department of Commerce to participate in a series of stakeholder workshops that will help the state set the rules for how value-of-solar tariffs should be calculated in Minnesota.

Here is a transcript of a conversation we had with Rábago last week, edited some for clarity and conciseness.

Midwest Energy News: Of all the discussions you’ve been involved in regarding the value of solar, how does this one stand out?

Rábago: It reminds me of the way we did it first at Austin Energy, but even better. When I first launched the value of solar concept, I did it from inside a utility. Utilities generally stay pretty close to the vest on things they’re working on. There’s a certain amount of nervousness or paranoia inside the utility culture. It’s the nature of the industry. But Austin Energy was a municipal utility so we built in from the start conversations with stakeholders and engagement with our policymakers.

In Minnesota, it’s been a public process from the very start. It’s been wonderful. My first visit up there as a consultant was just informational; sharing the experience and talking to groups; MnSIEA and utility people in very open discussions. The Department of Commerce has just set up this wonderful [process]. Everybody is being very forthcoming and honest and direct. Continue reading “Q&A: Karl Rábago, grandfather of the value-of-solar tariff”